page_title: Pelecanimimus
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Pelecanimimus / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Illustration of the skull from the theropod dinosaur Pelecanimimus. The small crest in back of the head ( colored in light grey ) was probably made by keratin. Pelecanimimus differ from other ornithomimosaurs by it had small teeth.
context_page_description: Pelecanimimus is a genus of basal ornithomimosaurian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Spain. It is notable for possessing more teeth than any other member of the Ornithomimosauria, most of which were toothless.
context_section_description: Pelecanimimus was a small ornithomimosaur, at about 1.9–2.5 m (6.2–8.2 ft) and 17-25 kg (37-55 lbs). Its skull was unusually long and narrow, with a maximum length of about 4.5 times its maximum height. It was highly unusual among ornithomimosaurs in its large number of teeth: it had about 220 very small teeth in total, with seven premaxillary teeth, about thirty maxillary, and seventy-five in the dentary. The teeth were heterodont, showing two different basic forms. The teeth in the front of the upper jaw were broad and D-shaped in cross-section, while those further back were blade-like, and on the whole the teeth in the upper jaw were larger than those in the lower. All of its teeth were unserrated, and had a constricted "waist" between the crown and the root. Interdental plates were lacking.
  Only one other ornithomimosaur is known to possess teeth, Harpymimus, which had far fewer (eleven total, and only in the lower jaw). The presence of such a large number of teeth in Pelecanimimus, coupled with a lack of interdental space, was interpreted by Pérez-Moreno et al. as an adaptation for cutting and ripping, a "functional counterpart of the cutting edge of a beak," as well as an exaptation leading to the toothless cutting edge found in later ornithomimosaurs. The arms and hands of Pelecanimimus were more typical of ornithomimosaurs, with the ulna and radius bones in the lower arm tightly adhered to each other. The hand was hook-like and had fingers of equal length equipped with rather straight claws.
  Soft-tissue remains preserved by the exceptional preservational environment of the La Hoyas lagerstätte revealed the presence of a small skin or keratin crest on the back of the head, and a gular pouch similar to the much larger pouches found in modern pelicans, from which Pelecanimimus took its name. Pelecanimimus might have been much like a modern-day crane, wading out in lakes or ponds using its claws and teeth to capture fish and then storing them in its skin flap. Some parts of the impressions revealed wrinkled skin, interpreted as lacking scales or feathers. Filament-like structures were also preserved; first interpreted as an integument, some of these were later seen as representing preserved muscle fibers. Pelecanimimus was also the first ornithomimosaur discovered with a preserved hyoid apparatus (specialized tongue bones in the neck). Gregory S. Paul has speculated that Pelecanimimus might have been capable of flight or be a recent descendant from a flying animal. This is due to the presence of large sternal plates and uncinate processes, which imply flight musculature. These adaptations have been noted years later by the paleontologist Mickey Mortimer.
caption: Illustration of the skull from Pelecanimimus. The small crest in back of the head (colored in light grey) was probably made by keratin.
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